Part of the legendary Knize Ten leather fragrance lineage, Knize Sec, created in 1985, takes the line in a distinctly incense direction.

Although Knize Sec starts off with a juicy-bright burst of citrus and an unusual herbaceous opening that includes sage and lavender, “sec, ” or dry, is the perfect descriptor for this fragrance. There is an intervening rich floral accord (jasmine and orris?), but its primary character smolders in the base: smoky, incensey, and redolent of burning frankincense.

After this dry, tinderbox smokiness subsides but doesn’t dissipate completely, the softest trail of amber kisses the skin. Some say that Knize Sec’s ambery, leather-animalic base comes from labdanum, the resin from the rockrose bush that is the closest plant ingredient (scent-wise) to ambergris. Knize Sec is a perfect unisex fragrance, bright and fresh but with a smoky-voiced allure.